Bobby Knight Is A Big Donald Trump Supporter, It Seems

Rick Chandler 04:06 pm, September 29th, 2015

One never knows where the Donald Trump supporters are living: some are in caves beneath bridges, others are right out in the open, bellowing about how America is "tired of being pushed around." Others are living happily in retirement, such as Bobby Knight.

It's no surprise that the former Indiana basketball coach and now retired ESPN analyst is a conservative -- he once wrote a heartfelt letter to Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, thanking him for his service to the nation. But I always assumed that Knight was a more conventional sort of Republican -- more of a Jeb Bush, Scott Walker kind of guy.

But not right now, apparently. In a profile of Trump posted today on The New York Times Magazine site, writer Mark Leibovich related this story:

It was early September when we met for the first time in his 21st floor office of Trump Tower. When I walked in, Trump had the legendary college basketball coach Bobby Knight paying homage to him over speaker­phone. Knight, who had never met Trump, apparently called him out of the blue to offer his support. I was slightly dubious about how “out of the blue” this really was, given how perfectly it was timed to my arrival, but Knight delivered a stirring tribute regardless. “No one has accomplished more than Mr. Trump has,” Knight raved after Trump informed him that a reporter was in the room. Trump nodded and motioned to the ­phone and made sure I had my recorder running. “What a great honor, man,” Trump said. “I will talk to you soon, and I won’t forget that you called. Thanks, Bobby.”

Was Knight at the now-famous wedding mentioned in the first debate, which drew Hillary Clinton and others who owed favors to Trump? The answer is unclear. But Knight is obviously a Trumpophile, although whether that means he'll actually vote for him is another matter.

And therein lies the rub. We all thought that Trump gained his first pro sports celebrity endorsement from Tom Brady back in August, when Brady said that it would be "great" if Trump won the election. More recently however, Brady walked back on that, saying that he doesn't know who he'll vote for.

But Knight seems a lot more enthusiastic about his support. So, vote Trump, I guess. New campaign slogan: